What Does 1 Samuel 14:27 Mean in the King James?
But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the oath: wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in an honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew word for “enlightened” grows from אוֹר (ʾôr, “light”): after Jonathan tastes honey, light returns to his eyes.
THE MEANING
A word can bind a whole community while one person’s need goes unnoticed. Jonathan tastes honey, and his eyes brighten: nourishment arrives as renewed clarity. The verse holds the body’s need and the community’s command in the same frame.
THE ROOT
וַתָּאֹרְנָה
vattāʾōrnah
GROWS FROM
א־ו־ר
ʾ-w-r
to be light, shine, or bring light
The Hebrew verb behind “were enlightened” grows from the same root as אוֹר (ʾôr, “light”). English can make “enlightened” sound only mental, while this image places light in the eyes as a sign of renewed vitality.
ALSO GROWS
ʾôr: light
אוֹר
The root’s basic noun names the light that returns to Jonathan’s eyes.
māʾôr: luminary, source of light
מָאוֹר
This branch names something that gives light, echoing the verse’s image of brightness becoming visible in Jonathan’s eyes.
THE PATTERN
Light in the eyes is a biblical image of vitality and perception reaching the whole person.
The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart: and a good report maketh the bones fat.The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.THE THREAD
Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;“Lighten” in this verse and “were enlightened” in Samuel grow from the Hebrew root אוֹר (ʾ-w-r, “light”). Psalm 13 ties light in the eyes to life itself, revealing the vitality carried by the image in Jonathan’s story.
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